Ex-Michigan police sergeant ordered to trial for repeatedly pepper spraying woman who was restrained in chair

(WWJ) — A Michigan man has been ordered to trial for allegedly assaulting an inmate at the Hillsdale County Jail in 2021 while she was strapped to a chair.

Ronald Leggitt of Marshall waived his preliminary exam and was bound over to stand trial on seven felonies, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday.

Leggitt, 43, was a sergeant with the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department at the time of the assaults.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 16, 2021, according to the AG’s office, a woman was taken into custody and brought to the Hillsdale County Jail, where Leggitt was supervising operations and staff.

Jail staff were told the woman had resisted officers during the arrest and the booking process. At the jail, she “continued to exhibit resistant and disruptive behavior,” according to Nessel’s office.

Authorities say over the course of an hour and 20 minutes, Leggitt allegedly assaulted the woman six times with aerosol subject restraint — more commonly known as mace or pepper spray. He allegedly sprayed it into her face “from a distance of mere inches.”

During five of the six alleged assaults, according to Nessel’s office, the woman was secured in an emergency restraint chair, restrained in wrist and ankle cuffs, as well as a chest restraint.

Leggitt was charged in March with one count of misconduct in office — a five-year felony — and six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, each count a four-year felony.

“Law enforcement officers have an obligation to protect the physical safety of those within their custody,” Nessel said, per a press release. “When their conduct stoops to criminality, we must take such allegations very seriously.

Leggitt’s trial date has not yet been set.

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